So who gets to determine what and who is American? Well, besides the American government, we mean. Do you need to know how to make the perfect apple pie? Or should you be able to recite all of the presidents backwards while hopping on 1 foot? In Pnin, America is a wild and unpredictable land. Immigrants like Pnin try to become a part of it and fail. There are so many different ideas of what America is in the novel, that we're not even sure what the word means to the characters. But we do know one thing: whatever it is, it's definitely not Pnin.
Questions About Visions of America
- What things are associated with America in Pnin? Are they negative or positive? What does America and being American mean in this novel?
- Who is allowed to be American in Pnin? What is the difference between them and the people who are clearly marked as foreign? Is it possible to go from one state to the other and back?
- Who are the Americans in Pnin? How can you tell? How are they depicted differently from the foreign characters?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
In Pnin, America is a dangerous, irrational, and unpredictable place.
In Pnin, America is a land of dreams where anyone can fit in.